Maurizio Melani

The growing challenges of a rapidly changing world have not been lost on the European Union. Now is the time to restructure it, before the rest of the world passes it by and leaves it floundering in its incapacity.

Local, regional and external factors weave a very complex fabric in the ongoing strife throughout the Middle East. A comprehensive solution will require all actors to accept some form of accommodation.

The nature of the Syrian Civil War is such that external actors have a significant stake, yet they are at cross-purposes. And they don’t wish to overly commit thus far against the supposed common enemy, lest they get tangled into an intractable free-for-all.

The geopolitical calculus in the Middle East and all over the world is shifting rapidly, especially in Turkey, which is now fighting both the Islamic State and the Kurds.
The Vienna agreement with Iran has caused a general reassessment.

Is the EU finally coming together to map out a policy to manage the increasing number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean? While flawed and in need of deeper considerations, the policy now envisaged is a step in the right direction.

With Iran poised to sign a nuclear deal that would lift sanctions, the rest of the major players in the Middle East will feel the need to adjust to what everyone expects will be a more powerful Iranian presence.

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is former ambassador and director general in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he lectures and writes on international political and economic affairs and is board member of the Italian Trade Agency.